


True Friends?

by sweetcarolanne



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Betrayal, Friendship, Gen, Memories, Potions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-10 01:34:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17416472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetcarolanne/pseuds/sweetcarolanne
Summary: Severus Snape has always wanted to impress his friend Lucius Malfoy, and turning to the dark side may be his best chance to do so... but is he really being true to himself?





	True Friends?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [intyalote](https://archiveofourown.org/users/intyalote/gifts).



> Dear alissae, I hope this is something along the lines of what you wanted!
> 
> DISCLAIMER: I am making no money from this story and do not own the characters.
> 
> Many thanks to my anonymous beta.

One pale eyebrow slowly raised itself, and Severus Snape felt a heavy sinking sensation in his stomach. He struggled to keep his facial expression impassive, and unfolded his hands in his lap, unlocking his fingers from the tense knots he had seemed to tie them in moments earlier.

It was always the same whenever he spoke of his own ideas or opinions to Lucius Malfoy. Although the two were friends, since the very beginning of their relationship it had been Lucius who had the upper hand in all things, looking down on Snape from a position of superiority. From the moment when, as a nervous first-year Hogwarts student, Snape had been welcomed to the Slytherin table by prefect Lucius, Snape had tried to impress this aristocratic pure-blood wizard and was never quite sure if he had ever succeeded. 

No matter how many magical skills Snape mastered, he was always going to be a half-blood from a poor background, lurking and languishing in the shadow of Lucius and his kind. Never quite good enough, and always striving to prove his worth, craving an acceptance that he felt deep down was never going to materialise.

Only one friend had ever shown Snape that acceptance, and had valued him for who he was rather than for how he could be pf benefit to her. But in the eyes of Malfoy and his cronies, she was even more worthless than Snape himself, and he knew with a sinking heart that he must abandon all memories of Lily and never think of her again.

Snape looked down at his hands, then at the luxurious Persian carpet on the floor of Malfoy Manor’s magnificent parlour, doing everything he possibly could not to look in Lucius’s eyes, fearing the expression of contempt he was sure he would see should he lift his gaze.

“Really, Severus?” Lucius asked, his tone slightly arch but not, Snape noticed with relief, completely disapproving. “You’re wanting to offer your potion-making skills to the Dark Lord? Potions are all very well and good, and you do have a remarkable talent for them, but why, for example, go to all the fuss and bother of waiting for a batch of Veritaserum to brew when a well-placed Cruciatus curse or two would have the same effect in a much shorter time?”

Snape forced himself to breathe deeply before facing Lucius and speaking at last.

“True, the Cruciatus curse is quicker to administer,” he said, doing his best not to squirm in his seat. “But people in extreme pain are going to do whatever it takes to make that pain stop, including telling any lie they’re able to make up on the spot to save themselves. The Veritaserum potion may be painstaking to concoct, but leaving aside the obvious flaws in the human memory’s accuracy, it’s more likely to bring out something closer to the truth than torture would. And being odourless and colourless, it can be administered without detection, whereas fear clouds the mind to everything except fear itself.”

Lucius leaned forward in his chair, resting his chin on his interlaced fingers.

“Most Impressive, Severus,” he said at last. “You’ve obviously given this a great deal of thought. Very well, then – I will do my best to obtain an audience for you with the Dark Lord.”

Snape tried to relax, wanting to bask in the approval of his friend. But all he could see in his mind’s eye were the green eyes of Lily Evans and the blue ones of Albus Dumbledore, and he could not help but imagine the disappointment he would see there.

He wished with all his heart that their opinion of his was the only one that mattered.


End file.
